My Top 5 Must-Have Vegan Baking Substitutes

In conventional baking, the main items that those eating a vegan diet cannot have are: butter, eggs and milk. It may seem overwhelming to bake vegan at first, but if you know about a few tips and tricks, it’s really not.

I have created a list of myTop 5 Must-Have Vegan Baking Substitutesso that you can create those magically delicious recipes and leave behind the animal products! Plus, there is a recipe at the bottom of this page, so that you can start your vegan baking adventure if you haven’t already!

My Top 5 Must-Have Vegan Baking Substitutes:

1) Canola Oil: I use recipes that call for canola oil instead of butter in the batter. These are usually spongier and less dense that butter cakes, and they tend to hold moisture longer.

2) Vinegar: Did you know that vinegar and baking soda interact in such a way, that it can actually replace the eggs needed in a batter? Why yes they do (see sample recipe below)! Any type of vinegar can be used to create this reaction!

4) Palm Shortening: For vegan frosting, I simply substitute the butter in buttercream with a 50% ratio of palm shortening and Earth Balance or Smart Balance, add some vanilla extract and enough powdered sugar until it’s thick enough to frost with. Add a little coconut milk or almond milk to cut the sweetness, and voila! Creamy and sweet vegan frosting!

5) Vegan Chocolate Chips: These will come in handy for lots of things! Vegan chocolate chips can be added to vegan cookies, used to top off cupcakes, or my personal favorite, used to make vegan chocolate ganache! Simply melt the chips with some coconut milk and vegan butter (Earth Balance or Smart Balance), and you’ve got a rich and decadent ganache for topping fruits or desserts!

PLUS! This isn’t in my Top 5 because it’s not necessary to add sprinkles to a dessert, but it sure does add to the fun! Did you know that most sprinkles aren’t vegan? That’s right, the coating and the coloring on a lot of sprinkles comes from crushed up beetles and other insects! …GROSS!

So, my bonus favorite vegan product is Vegan Sprinkles! These are hard to find locally, but you can certainly find them on Amazon:

Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar, cocoa, soda and salt. Pour in the vanilla, the vinegar and canola oil. Pour the hot coffee over the mixture and stir until moistened and no lumps remain. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.